The PBR World Finals are here. Beginning Thursday, May 7, the best bull riders in the World will compete in Fort Worth, Texas for a chance to etch their name into bull riding history.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the event…

Format

The 2026 World Finals begin at Cowtown Coliseum with 45 riders competing in four rounds, including the Top 40 in the Unleash The Beast standings and five Velocity Tour invites. Each rider will attempt one bull per round.

Rounds 5-7 move to Dickies Arena, where all 40 UTB riders advance alongside any Velocity Tour invite who records at least one qualified ride in the opening rounds.

Championship Sunday features a progressive Round 8 followed by the Top 15 Championship Round, where the World Finals title and 2026 PBR World Championship will be decided.

Athletes will receive 500 UTB Points for winning the Aggregate and 50 per round win. The bonus structure from the regular season is still in place as well: 7 points for a ride in the 70s, 8 for a ride in the 80s, and 9 for a ride in the 90s. That means if a rider wins all nine rounds and the Aggregate he can receive up to 1,034 UTB Points.

Contenders

No. 1 John Crimber | 984.5 Points | 87.96 AVG Score | 57.14% Covered (28/49)

Crimber seized the No.1 spot back in mid-March and never let go of it. He grew his lead on the Tour to an apex of over 220 points after winning PBR Sioux Falls last month. Now, his lead sits at 169.5 points clear of Brady Fielder. He won two events this season as one of the most consistent riders on Tour, leading UTB in round wins (6) and qualified rides (28). He’s top 4 on Tour in 90+ point rides, total outs, average score, and ride percentage.

No. 2 Brady Fielder | 815 Points | 87.71 AVG Score | 53.85% Covered (28/52)

Fielder is in the same position he was last year before the World Finals, but took a different season route to get here. The Aussie struggled in the middle of the season, but bookended his year with two distinct streaks of perfection. He began by winning PBR Boston and ended by winning PBR Indianapolis and PBR Billings, one of only two riders to win three events this season, eclipsing his total of two Tour wins last year. Fielder is on the best ride streak of his season at six in a row and during that streak, he’s scored 92+ three times, including his season high 92.4. Arguably, no one is riding better than Fielder heading into Fort Worth.

No. 3 Sage Steele Kimzey | 687 Points | 86.86 AVG Score | 56.1% Covered (23/41)

No one has looked more dominant this season than Sage Kimzey did after winning his second consecutive, third overall, event of the season at PBR Little Rock. Since then, he has had just four qualified rides and only one finish inside the Top 10. Regardless, Kimzey has the second-most round wins (5) and 90+ rides (5) with the fourth-best ride percentage on Tour.

No. 4 Leandro Zampollo | 608.5 Points | 86.71 AVG Score | 62.5% Covered (25/40)

Zampollo reinvented himself this season, riding better than he ever has before. He’s the highest-ranked rider without an event win, although he does have three 2nd-place finishes. He’s gone to eight Short Rounds and covered a bull in seven of them. No one else on tour has more than five rides in the Short Round. The 25-year-old is second on Tour in riding percentage, but has spent the last few weeks of his season rehabbing a groin injury.

No. 5 Alex Cerqueira | 541.5 Points | 85.78 AVG Score | 54% Covered (27/50)

Like Zampollo, Cerqueira went without an event win this season, but has remained extremely consistent throughout. From Jan. 16 to Feb. 21, Cerqueira covered 13 of the 17 bulls he saw. He was at his best during that streak, finishing 3rd twice and 2nd once for his only Top 5 finishes on the season.

No. 6 Paulo Eduardo Rossetto | 527 Points | 86.94 AVG Score | 43.75% Covered (21/48)

Rossetto sits in 6th heading into the World Finals for the second straight year. Rossetto has more Top 5 finishes than last year, with six, but fewer Top 3 finishes, with only one, compared to four last year. That lone Top 3 finish came at PBR Salt Lake, where he was victorious with 176.65 Aggregate Points. His season has been marked with short ride streaks and short buckoff streaks, never tipping the scale too much in one direction. He’s the only rider in the Top 10 yet to record a 90+ ride this season.

No. 7 Dalton Kasel | 506.5 Points | 87.21 AVG Score | 47.37% Covered (18/38)

Kasel has weathered a turbulent season. Once the No. 1 rider in the UTB Standings, he then fell out of the Top 10 and fought his way back in. In his first seven events, Kasel finished in the Top 4 four times, winning twice in Manchester and Milwaukee. In his eight events since, Kasel’s best finish was 11th. Last year, he entered the World Finals No. 1, but just barely lost to Jose Vitor Leme. This year, he gets the chance to play spoiler.

No. 8 Daylon Swearingen | 500.5 Points | 87.44 AVG Score | 50% Covered (17/34)

Swearingen is the highest-ranked former World Champion entering the 2026 World Finals, having won the Gold Buckle back in 2022. He ended the regular season with both a win at PBR Tacoma and the best ride of the UTB tour this season, covering Pegasus for a career-high 94.9 in Tacoma’s Short Round. It was his second win of the season, his first coming at PBR Florida State. With four Top 8 finishes with two wins in his last four events, Swearingen has the momentum to climb even higher.

No. 9 Marco Rizzo | 422 Points | 86.4 AVG Score | 38.78% Covered (19/49)

Rizzo started his season hot, winning PBR Chicago and earning the No.1 spot in the World Rankings. He followed that with a 2nd-place finish at PBR Boston. However, he’s spent the rest of the season unable to replicate his early success. Rizzo has just one other Top 4 finish this year at PBR Indianapolis, which was also the only time since PBR Boston where Rizzo rode consecutive bulls. He fought his way back into the Top 10, though, and he still leads the Rookie of the Year race.

No. 10 Cort McFadden | 414 Points | 87.41 AVG Score | 47.5% Covered (19/40)

McFadden earned seven Top 8 finishes this season, but never finished better than 5th. He’s survived the season through sheer consistency and opportunism, taking advantage of five of the nine re-rides he was awarded, while maintaining a Top 10 riding percentage on tour.

Other Notables

No. 14 Claudio Montanha Jr. | 405 Points | 86.11 AVG Score | 46.67% Covered (21/45)

Montanha put together a consistent season and peaked at the right time, finding consecutive 2nd-place finishes in the final stretch of the season. Those came at PBR Albuquerque and PBR Sioux Falls, and each time Montahna was 90+ in the Short Round, including a career-high 91.25.

No. 18 Luciano De Castro | 357 Points | 86.01 AVG Score | 46.34% Covered (19/41)

After earning just two Top 5 finishes in his first 12 events, De Castro ended his season with three consecutive Top 5 finishes. He rode his last nine consecutive bulls; no one has a better ride streak heading into the World Finals. De Castro was also a perfect 5-for-5 in the Short Round this season, the best rate on tour. Despite an excellent season, he’s entering the World Finals 13 spots lower than he did last season.

No. 19 Hudson Bolton | 339 Points | 87.48 AVG Score | 53.85% Covered (14/26)

The 2025 Rookie of the Year ended his season riding seven consecutive bulls. It’s the longest streak of his career. He recorded both of his career 90+ rides in this streak, including ending his regular season with a career-high 92.25 on Tigger.

No. 21 Jess Lockwood | 292 Points | 89.29 AVG Score | 40.9% Covered (9/22)

The two-time World Champion has made just nine qualified rides this season, but four of them have gone for round wins. Injuries have been a constant for him over the last few years, but he was healthy enough to make the World Finals. And when healthy, he has been terrific this year.

No. 23 Daniel Keeping | 278 Points | 87.04 AVG Score | 34.88% Covered (15/43)

Keeping didn’t ride consecutive bulls until PBR Albuquerque, where he scored his 2nd 90+ score of the season. He had bucked off 12 consecutive bulls, but has since turned his season around, finishing his season riding eight of the 12 bulls he saw. He also enters with some championship momentum after going 3-for-3 to win the Velocity Tour Finals last weekend.

No. 29 Felipe Furlan | 197 Points | 88.54 AVG Score | 30.43% Covered (7/23)

Furlan is one of two riders to have a perfect 100% riding percentage in Short Rounds this season, going 3-for-3. His Average Score also ranks second behind Lockwood among World Finals qualifiers.

Stats to Know

There are four former World Champions competing in this year’s World Finals: Jess Lockwood (2017, 2019), Kaique Pacheco (2018), Daylon Swearingen (2022), and Cassio Dias (2024).

Five riders won multiple events this season, but no one was able to win one back-to-back. Sage Kimzey and Brady Fielder have three wins while John Crimber, Daylon Swearingen, and Dalton Kasel all have two.

We will most likely see our fifth different World Champion in the last five years in 2026. No one in the current Top 7 has won ever won the Gold Buckle.

World No. 1 John Crimber is 8-for-16 in his PBR World Finals career.

With Clay Guiton ruled out, Leandro Zampollo is the only bull rider to cover at least 60 percent in this year’s World Finals field.

Nine bull riders competed in all 18 regular season events, including John Crimber, Brady Fielder, Alex Cerqueira, and Paulo Eduardo Rossetto.

Three of the Top 5 rides this season have come on Pegasus, including Daylon Swearingen’s 94.90, the highest score on Tour this year.

Sage Kimzey and John Crimber are the only riders to rank in the Top 3 in 90+ point rides and round wins.